OREANDA-NEWS.  September 02, 2014. Kumtor Gold, the Canadian-controlled enterprise responsible for Kyrgyzstan’s sole major-scale mining operation, has published its final operational and financial results over the first half of the current year last week.

Before the year comes to an end, the enterprise should be restructured and brought back under Kyrgyz constitutional law – if not, the mine could be abandoned, perhaps nationalized and foreign staff jailed and charged for “sabotage of assets belonging to the country’s core national interests” under a new law ready to be adopted by Parliament. On top of that, another Canadian company is lurking in the corner to grasp Kyrgyzstan’s one-third share in Kumtor’s parent company in Canada, Centerra as “compensation” for its faltering so-called rare earth metal venture in Kyrgyzstan. In all: a hot autumn in store for all.
 
“Centerra Gold Inc. (Centerra) and Kumtor Gold Company have summed up the operating results of the 2nd quarter of 2014,” a press release [http://www.kumtor.kg/en/operating-results-of-the-2nd-quarter-of-2014/] publicised last week read. “In the first six months of 2014, the Kumtor mine produced 180,793 ounces or 5,623 kg of gold. The Company has contributed more than 3 billion soms in taxes and mandatory payments.”
 
Gold Production and Sales

At the Kumtor mine, gold production in the second quarter was 2,422 kg (or 77,860 ounces) compared to 2,251 kg (or 72 365 ounces) in the same quarter in 2013 as Kumtor processed stockpiled ore from cut-back 15 that was mined during the fourth quarter of 2013. The increase in ounces poured was due to processing more tonnes with a higher average mill head grade than the comparative period. During the second quarter of 2014, Kumtor’s mill head grade averaged 2.35 g/t with a recovery of 73.2%. Tonnes processed were approximately 1.4 million for the second quarter of 2014, which was 6% higher than the comparative quarter of 2013

Gold sales in the second quarter of 2014 were 77,743 ounces, or approximately 2.4 tonnes. Total revenue from gold sales in the second quarter of 2013 was USD99.8 million.

The Dore bars produced by the Kumtor mine are purchased by Kyrgyzaltyn JSC for processing at the Kara-Balta refinery pursuant to a Restated Gold and Silver Sale Agreement signed by Kumtor Operating Company on behalf of Kumtor Gold Company, Kyrgyzaltyn JSC and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic. Kyrgyzaltyn JSC enjoys the exclusive right to sell refined gold and silver both in and outside the Kyrgyz Republic.